Intro to Rhetoric & Argumentation: 5 Canons of Rhetoric

5 Canons of Rhetoric

Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory, Delivery

Invention

Inventio

Invention (Inventio)

- art of finding + developing material

2 Means of Persuasion

artistic vs. non-artistic

Artistic Form of Persuasion

forms of appeal

Non-artistic Form of Peresuasion

already invented: laws, witnesses, contracts, tortures, oaths

Arrangement

Dispositio

Arrangement (Dispositio)

principles of arrangement to help: organize + how to support claims; evidence + synthesis

Classical Argument/Arrangement

Introduction (Exordium)

Background (Narrato)

Outline/Thesis (Divisio)

Proof of Case (Confirmatio)

Refutation (Confutatio)

Conclusion (Peroratio)

Style

Elocutio

Style (Elecutio)

rhetorical choices on word & sentence level

4 Elements of Style

Diction

Syntax

Tone

Figures of Speech

3 Levels of Style

Low/Plain: INSTRUCTING

Middle/Forcible: MOVING

High/Florid: CHARMING

2 Types of Figures of Speech

Scheme: artful variation from typical arrangement of words in a sentence

Trope: artful variation from typical arrangement of word/idea expression

Memory

Memoria

Memory (Memoria)

- captures least attention by rhetoricians

reader-writer connection through allusions

Delivery

Pronuntiatio

Delivery (Pronuntiatio)

- Demosthenenes thought it was most IMPORTANT canon

- Skill developed by practice and analysis

Actio

management of voices + gestures